I always did wonder before coming to Hong Kong. How easy is it to get food without speaking any Chinese and not eating at McDonald’s, KFC and the like. Even though I can speak alright Cantonese, I cannot read it. I wanted to eat Chinese comfort food that was in turn cheaper and more the everyday Chinese dining experience.
If you are looking for a good place to eat. I would suggest downloading the app Open Rice. It is the Asian dining app compared to Yelp! and Tripadvisor. I wouldn’t necessarily suggest Tripadvisor for food suggestions in Hong Kong as I wouldn’t expect a lot of locals to use it and only tourists.
Another suggestion is if there is a line to eat there full of locals. It must be good. That is my rule of thumb eating anywhere overseas.
Ordering in English it’s not actually that hard. For me, it was slightly more difficult due to the colour of my skin and I had to ask for an English menu in Cantonese. The wait staff were not entirely that compassionate about me ordering in Chin-glish because they expect me to know how too speak their language fluently.
For me good places to eat or where to get everyday Chinese food. Is not too difficult as there are eateries everywhere, but here are a few ideas what to eat and they’re not going to break the bank.
Chinese Bakery
For breakfast, I usually go to a Chinese bakery. It is cheap, easy and you can put it in your bag and eat it later. I usually only get three items, usually a cocktail bun, which has coconut inside, a pineapple bun, which has a crisp crust on top of the bun and/or a daan tart / egg tart.
Chinese Bakery Suggestions
Congee
I do not know many non-Chinese eat congee as I have been told by my friend it reminds them of baby food. However, I love it. When you order you can get beef, fish, pork our even preserved egg in your congee. Also, you can get a youtiao, which is a deep-fried break stick that you put in your congee or you can eat on its own.
Congee Suggestions
Yum Cha
So many places too drink tea and eat dim sum. Usually, you judge a yum cha restaurant on their har gao /prawn dumpling. There is just so much to choose from to eat, including; Pork Dumplings, Char siu bao, rice rolls and many other delights.
Yum Cha Suggestions
Roast Meats
Having a roast meat is a treat. I love my roast meat. It is always hard to decide what to pick. I love my roast duck the most. When I order roast meat always go for roast duck and then one other. I usually find it hard to decide between roast pork with the crackling, bbq pork, soya sauce chicken, or white chicken. At some places, you can also order goose and even order kidneys, livers or other offal, but that is not my thing.
Roast Meats Suggestion
Soup & Noodles
There are also so many of these places in Hong Kong, offering wontons, fish balls, beef briskets and many other dishes with different types of noodles and soup. They also have fried noodles and other stuff to keep you going.
Noodle Bar Suggestions
One of the good things about Hong Kong is that you can always get an English menu. Some places will also give you pictures as well if you ask. The one thing that always questioned was do I tip, usually, it is 10 to 15%. I was never really sure especially when eating at the cheaper places, where there is no real customer service.
Trencherman's Travels 